Viktor Muzhenko

Viktor Muzhenko (10 October 1961-) was the the Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army from 3 July 2014, succeeding Mykhailo Kutsyn.

Biography
Viktor Muzhenko was born on 10 October 1961 in Vystupovichi, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. In 1983 he graduated from the Leningrad Higher Military Command School and served in the Transcaucasian Military District beofre commanding a motorized infantry battalion of the Soviet Army. From 1992 to 2000 he led the Carpathian Military District of the newly-independent Ukraine, and he became deputy commander of a mechanized brigade of Ukrainian troops that fought in the Iraq War. Although Muzhenko was originally a pro-Russian politician who was a member of the Party of Regions, Muzhenko later left the party and became Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army on 3 July 2014, succeeding Mykhailo Kutsyn. When his predecessor suffered from shell shock, Muzhenko took command of the Ukrainian forces fighting in the Donbass War against the Donetsk People's Republic and other pro-Russia separatists.